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Wrap-up: Daytona Int'l Speedway

by
Anthony Ballantoni

February 17, 2019, 10:09 pm ET

The 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway (DIS) hosted all three NASCAR’s top series season-openers during this past weekend. DIS, as part of it's annual "Speed Weeks", also featured the Advance Auto Parts Clash open to Cup driver's who were 2018 pole winners, past winners of the Clash, drivers who earned a berth in the 2018 playoffs and former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed in the Series full time last year. Jimmie Johnson was the 2019 winner of the rain-shortened "bragging rights" February 10th Clash. This past Friday night, the Gander Outdoors Truck Series 111-lap (11 laps overtime) NextEra Energy Resources 250 was held at the track. On Saturday, the XFINITY Series featured the 120-lap NASCAR Racing Experience 300. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series opened the 2019 season on Sunday with the 207-lap (7 laps OT) Daytona 500. The results and upcoming scheduled events for the NASCAR Home Tracks are also shown below.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Qualifying for the MENCS Daytona 500, and only the Daytona 500, is unique. At the end of the February 10th qualifying session only the top two drivers are locked into starting positions for the February 17th event. The rest of the field's results on the 10th set their starting spots in the two qualifying "Gander RV Duels" on Thursday, Feb. 14th. The Duels, in turn, set the rest of the line-up for the Daytona 500.

Time Trials: On Feb. 10th, William Byron (No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet) won the Pole Award for the 61st Annual Daytona 500 with a lap of 194.305 mph. This is his first pole in 37 MENCS races. The pole was the 700th for Chevrolet in the MENCS all-time. Alex Bowman (second) posted his third top-10 start in six races at Daytona International Speedway. Based on their finishes in Thursday night's Gander RV Duels the two drivers who did not not qualify for the 40-car Daytona 500 field were No. 66 Joey Gase and No. 71 Ryan Truex.

Results: Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Toyota) won the Daytona 500, his 32nd victory in 471 MENCS races. It is his second victory and ninth top-10 finish in 27 races at Daytona. Kyle Busch (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 28 Daytona races. Ryan Preece (eighth) was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender (ROTY). Pole-sitter William Byron led 44 laps and was involved in a multi-car wreck on lap 198. He finished the 207-lap event credited with a 21st place DNF.

Next: Sunday, Feb. 24, Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval in Hampton, GA)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Time Trials: Tyler Reddick (No. 2 Chevrolet) won the Pole Award for the NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona with a lap of 189.060 mph. This is his third pole in 52 NXS races. It is his first pole in five races at Daytona. Jeffrey Earnhardt (second) posted his first top-10 start in eight races at Daytona. Michael Annett (third) earned his third top-10 start at Daytona. Justin Haley (fourth) was the fastest qualifying ROTY.
Did Not Qualify: No one. 38 entries for the 38-car field.

Results: Michael Annett (No. 1 Chevrolet) won the NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona, his first victory in 230 NXS races. This is his third top-10 finish in 15 races at Daytona. Justin Allgaier (second) posted his eighth top-10 finish in 17 Daytona races. Brandon Jones (third) scored his third top-10 finish in seven races at Daytona. John Hunter Nemechek (eighth) was the highest finishing ROTY. Pole-sitter Tyler Reddick led four laps and finished the 120-lap race in ninth place.

Results: Austin Hill (No. 16 Toyota Tundra) won the NextEra Energy Resources 250, his first victory in 52 NGOTS races. This is his first top-10 finish in four races at Daytona. Grant Enfinger (second) posted his second top-10 finish in six races at Daytona. Ross Chastain (third) scored his first top-10 finish in six Daytona races. Gus Dean (15th) was the highest finishing ROTY. Pole-sitter Christian Eckes led one lap, was involved in a multi-truck accident on lap 55 and was credited with a 22nd place DNF in the 111-lap event.